Something that is cumbersome is large and heavy and therefore difficult to carry, wear, or handle.
Although the machine looks cumbersome, it is actually easy to use.
...muffled up in thick and cumbersome clothing.
Synonyms: awkward, heavy, hefty [informal], clumsy More Synonyms of cumbersome
2. adjective
A cumbersome system or process is very complicated and inefficient.
...an old and cumbersome computer system.
The proposed regulations are ill-defined and cumbersome and could be unnecessarilycostly.
Synonyms: inefficient, unwieldy, badly organized More Synonyms of cumbersome
cumbersome in British English
(ˈkʌmbəsəm) or cumbrous (ˈkʌmbrəs)
adjective
1.
awkward because of size, weight, or shape
cumbersome baggage
2.
difficult because of extent or complexity
cumbersome accounts
Derived forms
cumbersomely (ˈcumbersomely) or cumbrously (ˈcumbrously)
adverb
cumbersomeness (ˈcumbersomeness) or cumbrousness (ˈcumbrousness)
noun
Word origin
C14: cumber, short for encumber + -some1
cumbersome in American English
(ˈkʌmbərsəm)
adjective
hard to handle or deal with as because of size, weight, or many parts; burdensome; unwieldy; clumsy
SIMILAR WORDS: ˈheavy
Derived forms
cumbersomely (ˈcumbersomely)
adverb
cumbersomeness (ˈcumbersomeness)
noun
Examples of 'cumbersome' in a sentence
cumbersome
With rising delays and many more lengthy and expensive trials, victims bemoan how this cumbersome, impersonal system treats them.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Ministers have understandably lost patience with the cumbersome and costly justice system.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
It will show us how difficult and cumbersome the processes of social change can be.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
It is a process that may be cumbersome and difficult if you use high street banks.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Heavy ladders and cumbersome diving boards further deprived them of any charm.
Page, Russell The Education of a Gardener (1994)
You may end up with an exhaustive model that is too cumbersome for routine use.
Charles A. D'Ambrosio & Stewart D. Hodges & Richard Brealey & Stewart Myers Principles of Corporate Finance (1991)
Those with laptops and tablets found them considerably more cumbersome to use.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
But they were slow and cumbersome to use.
Davidow, William H. & Uttal, Bro Total Customer Service (The Ultimate Weapon) (1990)
The inventory system is cumbersome and makes for an awkward experience.
The Sun (2016)
The second implication is that the appeals procedure is so cumbersome and costly that it can no longer be sustained.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
People have been predicting the demise of these often unnecessarily large and cumbersome machines since their first appearance on city streets.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
But somehow the cumbersome system worked.
Divine, Robert A. (editor) & Breen, T. H & Frederickson, George M & Williams, R. Hal America Past and Present (1995)
But our cumbersome planning system means that the scale of the task has yet to transmit itself into any sense of urgency.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
It sounds like a recipe for a large, cumbersome bureaucracy.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Some of them were very cumbersome and heavy, but some were very snug.
The Sun (2013)
While the action is intense and fun, the game has an item management system that feels cumbersome.
The Sun (2015)
Passage through the city, especially north and south, was difficult and cumbersome.
The Times Literary Supplement (2014)
There were beautiful fragments, but the whole was cumbersome, heavy and poorly detailed.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
While it's possible to get by without making any special arrangements, doing so is likely to be costly and cumbersome.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The bald fact is that the previous Government panicked, listened to the wrong people and set up a cumbersome and oppressive system with little regard for justice.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
In other languages
cumbersome
British English: cumbersome ADJECTIVE
Something that is cumbersome is large and heavy and therefore difficult to carry, wear, or handle.
Although the machine looks cumbersome, it is actually easy to use.
American English: cumbersome
Brazilian Portuguese: desajeitado
Chinese: 笨重的
European Spanish: voluminoso
French: encombrant
German: sperrig
Italian: ingombrante
Japanese: 扱いにくい
Korean: 다루기 어려운
European Portuguese: desajeitado
Latin American Spanish: voluminoso
1 (adjective)
Definition
awkward because of size or shape
Although the machine looks cumbersome, it is easy to use.
Synonyms
awkward
It was heavy enough to make it awkward to carry.
heavy
He was carrying a very heavy load.
hefty (informal)
The gritty foursome took turns shouldering the hefty load every five minutes.
clumsy
I'd never seen a clumsier, less coordinated boxer.
bulky
a bulky man with balding hair
weighty
Simon lifted a weighty volume from the shelf.
impractical
inconvenient
This must be the most inconvenient house ever built.
burdensome
The outlay so far has not been too burdensome.
unmanageable
The city school system is unmanageable.
clunky (informal)
cumbrous
Opposites
practical
, compact,
convenient
,
handy
,
easy to use
,
manageable
,
wieldy
2 (adjective)
Definition
difficult because of complexity
an old and cumbersome computer system
Synonyms
inefficient
Some people are very inefficient workers.
unwieldy
His firm must contend with the unwieldy Russian bureaucracy.
badly organized
Opposites
efficient
,
serviceable
Additional synonyms
in the sense of bulky
Definition
very large and massive, esp. so as to be unwieldy
a bulky man with balding hair
Synonyms
large,
big,
huge,
heavy,
massive,
enormous,
substantial,
immense,
mega (slang),
very large,
mammoth,
colossal,
cumbersome,
weighty,
hulking,
unwieldy,
ponderous,
voluminous,
unmanageable,
elephantine,
massy,
ginormous (informal),
humongous or humungous (informal)
in the sense of burdensome
The outlay so far has not been too burdensome.
Synonyms
troublesome,
trying,
taxing,
difficult,
heavy,
crushing,
exacting,
oppressive,
weighty,
onerous,
irksome
in the sense of clumsy
Definition
lacking in skill or physical coordination
I'd never seen a clumsier, less coordinated boxer.